


Of old hags and clever brothers

by WinterIsobel



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, One Shot, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Witchcraft, a clever brother, flames, two dumbass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 04:18:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14252877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterIsobel/pseuds/WinterIsobel
Summary: Two dumbass ignore each other's feelings. Witches and brotherly phsycologists come in their help.Adv: kittens involved





	Of old hags and clever brothers

**Author's Note:**

> I gift this ff to Dan for his/her/* precious support  
> (I don't know how to make the tag work, sorry!)  
> Stupid prompt for a Sunday afternoon XD.
> 
> HUGS

Witchcraft wasn’t uncommon among rural communities. It usually involved healing techniques and it sort of fell both into magic and alchemy boundaries, despite being less powerful than the later. Usually

 

“Mustang, wait!”

 

The woman they have been investigating about turned out to be a witch. Not the one interested in healing magic.

 

She found out a way to power her magic through alchemy and was aiming to destroy the East Command. In order to do it, she managed to compel about twenty soldiers through god knows what spell.

 

Edward easily managed to knock them off and breaking the link with her magic, while the night around them brights as Mustang keeps her occupied with a series of attacks. Flames sparkle around her, none of them actually reaching their target.

 

She runs all the way downtown, the night turning darker and darker as they reach the limits of the town.  
Mustang is trying to hunt her down. On his own.

 

Edward just landed his last punch when he realized what was going on and followed them.

 

“Bastard, _wait_!”

 

She stops running right outside one of the barns, smiling as they reach her.

 

“You are done playing” he hears Mustang say as he catches up with them. “I declare you under arrest for conspiracy and attempted murder”

 

“If you say so”

 

Bun then she claps her hands on the ground and an array hidden under the straw-covered open space glows dangerously, making both of them startle.

 

Roy got caught in her spell.

 

Fuck.

 

Edward tries to stop it, in vain.

 

“Too late, my dear”, she mocks him.

 

“Shit” he curses, already thinking about a way out of it. This probably was her plan since the beginning. Luring one of them into the array to have some real weapon at her disposal. The hag.

 

“ _Now_ I’m going to have some fun”

 

She moves and so does Roy. Edward’s hears register the snap of gloved fingers as the barn explodes, fire rushing to reach the starred sky.

 

Mustang’s eyes are wide open, worry shadowing them for once. He didn’t have the faintest resistance against her command.

 

“Stop it!” Edward tries to hit her with one of her attacks but she dodges the first ones, before thinking against it and moving Roy to stand between them. Which brings Edward to a sudden alt and more cursing.

 

Roy is silent, but his eyes are glaring at him in disagreement. Something on the lines of “Go ahead, it’s an order”.

 

“Interesting, you won’t risk hurting him” she makes fun of his hesitation. “How lovely”

 

Maybe if he had time, he could come up with some plan to break the spell, or weaken it. But time is something he hasn’t. The witch is manoeuvring Roy again, as she speaks evilly.

 

“Well, he’s going to kill you now”.

 

She turns toward the older alchemist, as she raises her arm in synchro with him. And orders,

 

_“Burn him”_

 

Edward stares at the scene. He can’t attack Roy and risk to wound him or worse. He can’t even go for her, because she would use him as shield. And there is no time to transmute a barrier thick enough to hold up against the flames.

 

That’s the flash of his reasoning. What his body does instead, is shutting down his eyes and crutching down for the inevitable burst of fire.

 

But nothing happens during the next seconds.

 

The woman’s disbelieving groan makes Edward open his eyes.

 

The deadly snap of fingers never came. They both stare at the fight for power on Mustang’s face.

 

“I said burn him!”

 

The features turn even more pained, sweat running down his neck.

 

And yet, he doesn’t comply.

 

“You are resisting me. It must take everything from you. Not something I’m used to see.”

 

She looks at Edward, controlling every move. “He must care a great deal about you to do that”

 

As for him, Edward is petrified. It never happens to him to not know what to do. Ususally the opposite is true. Too many ideas, too much of everything. Not now. Because yes, he might end up demolishing a building or two. Making people upset, screwing up. But he’s dealing with Roy’s life here. And he can’t put him on risk.

 

“R-un” Roy manages to let out, strained by the effort to restrain himself.

 

Running? Leaving him here for her…to make him do what she wants, harming other people, using him as a weapon, like Bradley did in Ishval…probably even worse. And then, probably, getting rid of him, too?

 

No fucking way. He’s going to die before letting it happen.

 

 

“ _No”_

 

 

The witch steps toward him and so does Roy. He trembles, fighting against it.

 

 

“Ed, _ple-ase_ ”

 

And Edward loses himself in Roy’s glance.

 

His eyes are terrified. He knows he probably won’t be able to hold on for much longer and hurt him.

 

Edward recognizes it. It’s not that different from the terror he has made his own when he saw the Gate taking Al.

 

And of course, that’s when everything goes to shit. The witch screams,  herself exhausted and mad with vindictive fury.

 

“You useless puppet, _do it now_!”

 

That’s gonna be the end of it. Fullmetal, Alchemist of the People, ended up roasted to the crisp because he cared so much about his commanding officer – a bastard – to refuse to defend himself if it meant to hurt him in the process. Fine epitaph. Too long, though.

 

Dumbass brother, who died like a moron. Better.

 

This time his eyes remains wide open, filled with the bright light of deadly flames.

 

He is about to transmute some kind of -inadequate, he knows- barrier when the witch’s sudden scream makes him freeze.

 

**_“Don’t!!”_ **

 

Flames envelopes Mustang’s arm as the witch screams in pain and here is Edward’s chance. He goes for her. He rapidly knocks her out and secures her before running where Roy is lying on the ground. No more lights to enlighten the darkness around them.

 

 

 

 

 

The doctor says he has first grade burns on most of his arm.

 

He needs rest and medicines but otherwise he’s going to be fine.

 

A knot melts inside Edward’s chest at the news. Now he is sitting next to his bed, the man in front of him still sleeping because of the meds.

 

Roy saved him. He had the will to redirect the attack toward himself rather than toward him.

 

Harmed himself in order to spare him.

 

Fought against the witch’s commands.

 

He suddenly realizes Roy’s woken up and is observing him, eyes half-dimmed.

 

“You burned yourself. Doctor says it’s gonna heal just fine.”

 

“Are you ok?” ignoring everything Edward has just said. Obviously.

 

Edward repays him with the same currency.

 

“Why the fucking hell did you do that?”

 

“Did what?”

 

“I know it was intentional. You harmed yourself to break the link with her.”

 

“You are wrong. It was a rebound. It was accide-“

 

“Don’t _bullshit_ me! You are too good to just-“

 

“I was trying to fight her commands and ended screwing up”

 

“She said you were able to fight her because-”

 

He shuts himself up before concluding it. Roy moves his eyes away from him, his body all tense.

 

“What did she mean?” Edward hears himself murmur.

 

“I don’t know.” The other man scoffs, sounding annoyed.

 

Funny, Edward can’t remember when he started to see through Mustang’s masks -some years, anyway- , but he certainly never saw through it so limpidly as he does now, through the one he’s so desperately trying to put on. He’s lying.

  
The door banging open stops him from his next assault. Al storms inside, ragged breath and worried eyes.

  
“Brother, are you ok?” Alphonse asks, interrupting them.

 

 

 

 

 

They leave shortly after, Al insisting to make him rest after the fight. Mustang needing to spend the rest of the day in.

 

He can’t ask him any further.

 

And Roy seems uninterested to allow him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Brother, dinner”

 

A plate makes hi appearance in front of him. He spent the remaining of the day crutched on a chair, thinking about what happened. He is usually damn good to understand..pretty much everything. But he can’t make sense of what Roy did last night.

 

Like he couldn’t explain the sense of dreadful fear running through him when he saw Roy at the witch’s mercy, and his refusal to just run for backups. To leave him.

 

“Not hungry Al, thanks.”

 

Alphonse sights heavily and joins him at the table.

 

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong? Since you came back from the hospital, you’ve been ..gloomy?”

 

“R-Mustang..I think it was intentional. He burned himself to avoid attacking me. When she ordered him in the first place, he..resisted.”

 

“That’s ..impressive, isn’t it?”

 

“That’s stupid as fuck! He is supposed to be clever and shit and instead he just-“ he sights, pissed. Yes, he’s just pissed of. The void feeling down his stomach is..hunger, yes.

 

“Just what?”

 

“He ordered me to leave and I couldn’t so he burned himself instead.” He scrubs his face, “And the witch said some bullshit about him caring, and I don’t know what wrong with him and I’ve been ruminating on it with it since I came back. He won’t tell me.”

 

He looks back at Al.

 

 

His little brother is observing him in disbelief, mouth hanging open and the food forgotten beside him. He didn’t even put down the spoon.

 

“Al?”

 

“ _Are you serious_?” he hisses before adding,

  
“He is _in love with you_ , Brother. He’s been in love with you for years now. I thought you kind of realized it and..I don’t know, you sorted it out? You have been in love with him even longer than that. Even today, you just told me, you couldn’t leave him even if he ordered you to.”

 

 

Edward stills for a good thirty seconds before cursing all the way out, rushing through the door before Al has the time to say “Good luck!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The knocks bang furiously against the door. Roy has just made himself comfortable on the couch, after he came home from the hospital, and here he is, getting up again.

 

“Who is it?”

 

“It’s me.”

 

“Fullmetal”. He opens the door. Edward stands in front of him, pink cheeks -has he run all the way here?- and angry eyes. Troubles incoming. The young alchemist lets himself in without asking.

 

Roy closes the door. He knew, when they were at the hospital, that the discussion was far from finished. Unfortunately for him.

 

“Why did you burn yourself?” Edward ask without waiting.

 

“If you came here to-“

 

“Answer me, Roy”

 

And his name shouldn’t sound so nice, so right, on his tongue.

 

And he shouldn’t catch himself staring at him every now and then on the workplace.  
Or thinking about him any moment.  
Or struggling to hide -to the other and until some time ago even to himself - the fact that he is madly in love with him.

 

“I’m your superior officer. You should use the pr-“

 

“I’m not asking my superior officer. I’m asking you”

 

He remains silent, because..he can’t do it. HE can’t confess to Ed. He needs someone better than him. So he does shut up, as he does every day.

 

“When she was trying to force you. You said me to run.”

 

Roy tenses at the memory and lets worried anger to take the upper hand. He steps closer to Edward.

 

“And you should have. Right away.”

 

“She told me you cared about me” Edward continue, an urgent tone in his voice.

 

“After all these years, you should know I care about all my men”

 

“What about the great deal?” he piles up.

 

Roy breaths in sharply. The damn witch. He seals his lips. He just has to resist a few minutes, just enough to annoy Edward enough to convince him to let it go. To leave.

 

He should know better, because the other continues.

 

“Do you know why I didn’t run when you told me to?”

 

Now, irritate him, make him angry, let him go.

 

“Because you are a carelss brat who-“

 

 

A rough clash of lips forbids him to finish his invective. Shock freezes him for a moment, before melting into it and tilting his head to give the kiss more space.

 

Then the contact goes missing, Edward distancing an inch, breathing hard, wet lips and gorgeous and he realizes what just happened.

 

Edward kisses his shock away with another light kiss and a fairly annoyed whisper.  
“You self sacrifying idiot.”

 

“You knew” Roy shutters.

 

“I did not. Until thirty minutes ago.” Edward calmly admits. He frowns, looking a little wounded, “Why didn’t you-“

 

“How could I confess to you? I’m just- You don’t need all of my problems and-”

 

Another kiss shuts him up for good. As they deepen the kiss it’s harder and harder to remember what he was about to say. Why is he supposed to push Edward away for his sake.

 

“I love you too, Bastard. Have been for a long time. Don’t feed me with this crap. Now that I caught you, you are stuck with me”. Edward breaths a couple of times before assaulting him again.

 

 

Well, nobody can talk Ed out of things.

Roy knows better than anybody.

 

But there is something he needs to ask, before dragging Edward upstairs.

 

“What does it mean you didn’t know until half an hour ago?” Roy asks as he distances himself, slightly frowning.

 

“Well..”

 

 

 

 

 

Edward has still to decide if he wants to punch his little brother on the head for not telling him right away that Roy was in love with him. Or buying him a box full of kittens.

 

 

Next day, Roy has a box of kittens delivered to Al’s apartment because he’s a fucking sap.

 

 

 

 

And this way, they don’t need to get up from their bed.


End file.
